Hewlett-Packard said Monday that a second longtime director, Lawrence Babbio, has decided not to seek re-election as the tech giant slims down a board that has faced heavy criticism for key decisions in recent years.

Hoping to refresh the energy unleashed in Silicon Valley earlier this month fighting the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act, Hunter Walk, director of product management at Google, and Eric Ries, a popular blogger, are collaborating to incorporate the work of some of the most prominent tech writers into a digital book called “Uncensored.”

In his quest to snag a patent office in Silicon Valley, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is enthusiastically backed by dozens of Silicon Valley tech companies and trade groups along with local, state and federal officials in a region that generates almost 13 percent of the nation’s patents.

Stanford University’s School of Engineering and Columbia Journalism School have received a $30 million gift to establish a New York City-based Institute for Media Innovation, which will seek new ways for technology to enhance a robust free press.

PG&E on Monday unveiled high-tech equipment to better monitor leaks in its sprawling network of gas pipelines, saying it would help the beleaguered utility achieve its goal of becoming the world’s safest gas company.